Knights of Evangelion
by NightRanger85
Summary: Even Gods have their limits; even the Fates cannot always determine circumstance. Upon the Childrens' shoulders doth our future rest. Rated 'T' to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Entre Acte**

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to the production or distribution of the material in this work of fiction.

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This is a tale.

A tale of Amaterasu, the God of Light and his Wife, Lachesis.

Who emerged from an era of wars that raged throughout the Four Systems.

This is also a tale of a Child of Destiny.

A Stranger from foreign lands. He who alters Destiny's course.

The Keeper of Nightmares and the Light of Souls, He comes with Fire and Thunder as His heralds.

What will dawn in this age of Knighthood and Chivalry?

What will come of Fate's Child?

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**Eastern Solar System, Delta Belune, the ****Floating Temple**** above the AKD capital Gristeria**

Aisha Codante, Prime Minister of the Amaterasu Kingdom Demesnes, Princess and Chancellor of the Kingdom of Grees, and Second Knight of the First Eastern Mirage Corps, was bored.

Dead bored.

Not to mention restless.

The Chancellery had yet to contact her for anything, and ditto for the AKD Ministry of State. She sighed; nothing happened in Internal Affairs. She shook her head, long emerald hair rustling.

'_I must be really desperate, looking forward to paperwork..._' she thought to herself.

It just wasn't fair sometimes. Amaterasu, cute albino idiot that he was, was giving his Laki-chan the grand tour of his MH workshop. 'God of Light' indeed. Then why the hell did he spend half his days cooped up in that cavern he called a workshop? Why, when he had a Princess, his for the taking...

'_Oi, down girl..._' Aisha thought to herself, letting her hair drop from its normal flame-like sweep. '_No jumping your Emperor, no matter how good it sounds!_' Her fatima, Alecto, was a sweet girl, but she just didn't have the touch that she craved sometimes...

Oh, for a handy encyclopedia to pound the nasty, dirty thoughts out of her head. '_Face it Aisha, you need to find yourself a man, and soon._'

Getting up from her seat, she looked out the window. The Cloisters of Mere were an excellent place to relax and take in the beauty of the Floating Temple. Literally an island in the sky, the Floating Temple was like a paradise, with great cathedral-like palaces and spectacular views of the surface two miles below. Unfortunately for Aisha, it wasn't the sort of _relaxation_ she sought.

Firmly _not_ thinking about that, Aisha strode over to the massive bathroom just off of her suite. The size of a small bathhouse, the luxurious bath had enough room to swim around for a short ways, constantly at just the right temperature. The frustrated woman ignored it entirely, aiming instead for the large shower stall next to it.

Hurriedly stripping, Aisha turned on the shower, yelping as the icy water hit skin.

Just another day off for Aisha Codante, Mirage Knight.

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**Tokyo-3, NERV-01 Geofront**

Just another test. Another synchronization test in EVA Unit-01.

Just another day for Ikari Shinji, the Third Child.

"You're slipping, Shinji. Concentrate!"

Reapplying himself to the task at hand, Shinji sighed heavily. Was this all he was good for? Would this ever be over? "Hai, Dr. Akagi."

Concentrating on his link with the EVA, Shinji found his mind wandering. Synchronization; the melding of mind and body. In this particular case, 'projecting' his will onto a foreign body and manipulating it as if it were his own, feeling what it feels and seeing what it sees.

Not that Shinji understood much beyond the basics.

Hell, he had overheard _Asuka_ mumbling over Dr. Akagi's explanations about it the other day. With all the bragging she did about her college degrees, he'd thought that the redheaded pilot would be able to understand at least a good fraction of the technicalities.

Apparently, that wasn't the case.

Leaning back in his seat, he once more tried to relax. God, he missed the presence of Unit-00. In particular, he missed the calm and collected presence of its pilot, one Ayanami Rei.

After Third Impact "failed", Dr Akagi had decided that Unit-00 was unsalvageable from its disastrous sortie against the 16th Angel. What was left of its skeleton and tissue had been disposed of only a week earlier. To everyone's amazement, EVA Units-08 and 13 had been deemed as salvageable, their condition barely within the Henflick Limit of regeneration.

Needless to say, Dr. Akagi had been near overjoyed with her new toys.

'_Maybe some sort of air cover the next time we have to sortie?_'

It was a big 'if'.

For one thing, Commander Fuyutsuki was uncertain as to whether or not there would be future Angel attacks. Then there was the fact (frequently brought up during the newly implemented strategic overview meetings) that Evangelion technology had gone public. Oh, NERV-01 was still part of the UN as a special tactical asset (whatever _that_ meant), but what had been the Groom Lake, Novaya Zemlya, Shanghai, and Paris facilities had all gone independent.

Then there was the fact that the drastically different setup and equipment set of the Mass Production EVAs that Rei had to go through significant re-training. Not to mention that it would be months before either Units-08 or 13 would be repaired enough for even a basic activation test.

Or to put it in layman's terms, Rei's potential role as a guardian angel was still a ways off.

Finally, there was the issue of an opening for Pilots, thanks to Unit-13; due to physical disabilities, Touji only on as a backup at this point.

Shinji didn't even want to be in the same _prefecture_ as Kensuke when he became aware of the opening.

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**Northern Solar System, Juno, Trio de Colus capital Jarth.**

Clotho was worried. Only three months had passed since the debacle of a Debut on the planet Addler in the Eastern system, and the girl had only just begun to relax before trouble had once again found her.

In a stunning act of aggression, the neighboring state of Hagooda had begun invading the northern Trio territories. No few heads of state, her own master Colus XXIII included, had been caught completely off-guard.

She sighed; her master was a warrior-king in both body and heart, and every soldier, every knight who didn't return tore at him. It showed in his desperation to design better, more powerful Mortar Headds, sometimes staying awake for days straight before his wife Elmelah finally threatened to sedate him.

Where did Hagooda come up with the wherewithal to declare war on the Trio de Colus?

Like an older brother, she the Fatima Fates Clotho, the 45th masterpiece of the ailing genius Dr. Chrome Ballanche, loved her master with all her heart. And yet she knew to the depths of her soul that his time amongst the living was nearing its end.

'_O, tragic, noble master; you who weeps for his people. Were your Destiny different..._' Clotho thought to herself sadly.

Later on, she would never be able to recall what had brought her to do it. It was childish, superstitious, and utterly ridiculous, but Clotho made a wish upon a star that night.

The instant her wish manifested in her mind, she felt...something. Something terrible and great, all at once.

It grew rapidly, quickly overwhelming her as she curled into a ball in a vain effort to stave off the pain. Her scream seemed to awaken the whole palace, her master rushing to her side.

All pain was suddenly gone, leaving the exhausted fatima trembling in her master's arms.

--

Colus XXIII was halfway to a panic by this point. He loved Clotho like a daughter, and to see her near delirious with pain made him want to rage at the gods for cursing the poor girl with such misfortune.

"Clotho! Clotho, please. Are you aright?" Hugging the fatima to him, his mind registered his wife's presence behind him; he was fully aware of Elmelah's resentment of his feelings for his first fatima partner, Ulicle, but she held no particular grudge against little Clotho. Indeed, she often treated the long-haired girl like her own child.

"Clotho please," pleaded Elmelah, stroking Clotho's hair. "What's wrong?"

Clotho's eyes suddenly shot open, her sight seeing into the Beyond.

"_He comes. Defender, Protector, Destroyer, Godslayer, He comes."_ Clotho's voice was little more than a whisper, and yet it hit them both like typhoons.

"_On Mother's wings will He ride. Keeper of Souls, Master of Nightmares. He who slew Heaven's Vanguard, the Gentle Heart."_

"Clotho?" Gently shaking her, Colus was relieved to see her eyes finally refocus. "Clotho, what was that?"

The poor girl only trembled. Shivering, she pointed off into the distance where the Eastern Star burned bright in the night sky.

"He is here."

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Author's Notes

To my knowledge, this has never been done before. For those who haven't sussed it out, this is a crossover between _Evangelion_, and the_ Five Star Stories_.

In Summary, the _Five Star Stories_ (FSS) is a giant mishmash of high fantasy, science-fiction, and giant robots. Like _Star Wars_, FSS is a massive space epic, with an entire galaxy and its peoples as the background. In it, Headdliners, the elite class of knights in the galaxy, pilot their gundam-sized mortar headds with their fatima partners. The average Headdliner has reflexes at least five times as fast as a normal person and at least three times the strength. Basically, they are _ubermensch_, or superhuman. The fatimas themselves are like bio-androids, living beings, usually young women, designed to aid in operating the pseudo-organic mortar headds (MH). A MH is like a giant suit of armor from Medieval Europe in that it is as much a customized work of art as it is a weapon of war. Even a series of similar MHs, no two are exactly alike.

There are three factions from FSS that are taking part in this fanfiction so far. The first is the Amaterasu Kingdom Demesnes (AKD). One of the most powerful political entities in the galaxy, the AKD holds sway over the entire planet of Delta Belune, a rare feat for any single nation. The ultimate avatars of the AKD's authority are the Mirage Knights of the First Eastern Mirage Corps. Widely regarded as the most skilled and fearsome knights in the galaxy, they are nonetheless human, with human wants and desires. The AKD is ruled by its Emperor, Amaterasu Dis Grand Grees Eydas IV, a tall, slender albino with knee-length hair and a rather feminine appearance. A headdliner in his own right, Amaterasu's fatima partner, Lachesis, is also his wife and Queen. Many headdliners eventually marry or have a relationship with their fatima partner.

The second faction is the Trio de Colus, a coalition of three states and their various territories. Physically about the size of China, the Trio de Colus is nonetheless a major power on the planet Juno. It its ruled by three branches of the Colus line: Colus, Ballanka, and Meistner. The overall ruler of the Trio de Colus is the head of the Colus line, Colus XXIII. Like Amaterasu, Colus XXIII is a headdliner. However, Colus has a human wife as his queen, Elmelah.

The Third faction is the empire of Hagooda, ruled by Queen Armemeos. A smaller, less powerful nation the Colus, it nonetheless begins an all-out invasion of the more powerful state.

Quite honestly, there's a great deal to FSS that I left out because it would simply take up too much space to put in here; I want to tell my own story, not just rehash someone else's stuff. Suffice it to say that there are a number of online resources and the FSS manga to find out about it all.

Crazy ideas, really, but I'd appreciate a review anyways.

-NightRanger


	2. By The Pricking Of My Thumbs

"He comes

"_He comes. Defender, Protector, Destroyer, Godslayer, He comes."_ Clotho's voice was little more than a whisper, and yet it hit them both like typhoons.

"_On Mother's wings will He ride. Keeper of Souls, Master of Nightmares. He who slew Heaven's Vanguard, the Gentle Heart."_

"Clotho?" Gently shaking her, Colus was relieved to see her eyes finally refocus. "Clotho, what was that?"

The poor girl only trembled. Shivering, she pointed off into the distance where the Eastern Star burned bright in the night sky.

"He is here."

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A NightRanger/Nagano Fanworks Production

**Knights of Evangelion**

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**Unknown Location**

Shinji wasn't sure what had happened. One minute, he was conducting a sync test in EVA Unit-01, and in the next minute he was god knew where.

He expected pain; that's all EVA really gave him. But this was entirely new.

Green. He was surrounded by green fields.

Off in the distance, he could see what looked like a giant castle, its slender towers shining bright in the sun against the backdrop of a snow-covered mountain.

Where the land ended, all he could see was clouds.

Was this Heaven? Had he...died?

Shinji could feel his eyes burn with unshed tears. '_Rei ... Asuka ... Misato ..._'

It hurt, to know he would never see them again, to never be able to say goodbye...

Shinji shook his head fiercely. '_No! NO! I refuse to believe that I'm gone. Would Unit-01 be with me if I'd truly died?'_

Turning towards the end of the green, he started towards the edge of the flying island. '_I can't run away, not this time. I have to find a way home._'

_In the name of the Amaterasu Kingdom Demesnes, you will identify yourself and stand down!_

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Dr. Lie Ex Henschel Atowight, Mirage Knight No. 7, was having a hell of a time keeping raw fear from creeping into her voice.

Her MH's veil was up, hopefully to shield against whatever ordinance the gargantuan purple beast decided to throw at her.

'_Let's hope its not a fist..._' she thought. The thing must be at least 70 meters in height, if she was any judge of scale; her LED Mirage might be a powerful machine, but whatever that monster was was probably big enough to simply wring it in half bare-handed.

She had been in her quarters on the _Belle Claire_, the AKD Space Force flagship, when the Floating Temple shook like there had been a seismic tremor. An impossibility, seeing as the Floating Temple was three kilometers above the surface. The intruder alert had gone off moments later, sending her running to her Mirage.

_Sire, our choice of ordinance is quite limited._

Lie took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "I know, Icarus. Wait for the others to show up before we think about doing anything."

Lie almost smiled; her fatima Icarus for all the world looked and acted like an impetuous young man and he always like flashy displays on the battlefield.

_What in god's name _is_ that thing, Lie?_

Ah, Poesche Nomien. He'd also quartered on the _Belle Claire_ and apparently taken the time to load up with heavy artillery.

"I have no idea, Poesche. For all I know, it simply dropped out of nowhere."

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Shinji's mind was racing. There were two other...robots, standing in front of him; he couldn't call them giant, as his EVA towered over them.

The way the woman pilot had talked however showed that they were professional soldiers who meant business.

'_No more running, Shinji. Not anymore._'

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_Ah...excuse me?_

Lie Ex was faintly aware of her jaw going slack. In her viewscreen was the face of what looked to be a child of no more than 50. A headdliner? At so young an age?

_My name is Ikari Shinji. I...I don't want to cause any trouble._

In front of her, the purple giant raised its arms in apparent surrender.

_I know I probably sound crazy, b-but I have no idea where I am._

Lie could feel her heart clench. The boy couldn't even be in high school, much less an order of knighthood. Her own daughter, Pannar, sometimes felt lost, looking so much like her mother.

The giant got to its knees, hands still raised. _I...I'm going to come out now. J-just don't shoot me._ The comm window then went dark as the purple giant made as if to bow.

With a hiss, a white tube popped out of its back...

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The first thing Shinji did as he exited the entry plug was to pop his ears. How high up was he that he needed to do that?

Next was what to do about the two other robots, which now looked a _lot_ bigger now that he wasn't in Unit-01, and a steadily increasing number of what looked like flying tanks.

As he climbed down, he heard a sound like hydraulics releasing. Looking at his impromptu audience, he noticed the chest of the first machine had opened up.

Out came an attractive woman in a white uniform, her waist-length hair drifting lightly in the wind.

Feeling horribly exposed in his skin-tight plugsuit, Shinji watched as she descended from what must have been the cockpit.

She was very tall, he thought as she strode over towards him; she was probably taller than Kaji-san.

"You're...a boy." was the first thing out of her mouth. Given the way her face coloured, Shinji didn't think it was intentional.

"Yes, I am," he said. The way she looked at him vaguely reminded him of Dr. Akagi, albeit with a sense of humanity.

Then again, it _could_ be his plugsuit...and the fact that he had nothing underneath it.

Regaining her composure, the woman nodded in salute. "I am Lie Ex, Duchess of Atowight, and Seventh Knight of His Majesty Amaterasu's First Eastern Mirage Corps."

Shinji bowed deeply out of respect for the woman's titles. "I am Ikari Shinji, Third Child chosen to pilot Evangelion." He hoped Lie-dono wouldn't notice how afraid he was of screwing up right then; he hadn't counted on having to deal with royalty!

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**Eastern Solar System, Delta Belune, the Floating Temple, Mirage Palace grand hall**

It was hard to comprehend, Shinji reflected, what had just happened to him; let alone where he was now. He was being escorted down an immense hall, its vaults so high, the Mirages (that's what the robotic machines were called) could probably walk through here without a problem.

He was currently wearing Lie-dono's formal white overcloak, as his plugsuit was hardly decent attire for causal strolls, much less meeting a head of state. The result was rather comical, as apparently Lie-dono was about 6'2" to his own 5'4". Plus, the cloak was apparently designed to exaggerate the shoulders, so he was more or less engulfed by the expansive garment.

Of course, his five escorts also dwarfed him. Other than Lie-dono, his escorts consisted of four men and a woman. There were two in particular that were especially striking; the first was one of the men, and he was huge! He also looked like something out of the Terminator movie that Kensuke had shown him a while back.

The second was the woman; Lie-dono had fairly normal hairstyle, but this woman's hair seemed to sweep up in a flame, nearly doubling her height! And it was green of all colors!

How it stayed like it was, Shinji could only guess.

The other two were a little odd as well, but they looked relatively nomal.

As they wended their way through the labyrinth of grand hallways and passages, Shinji could only think of one thing.

'_At least Lie-dono isn't lost like Misato-san was._'

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Amaterasu Dis Grand Grees Eydas IV was...well, intrigued was putting it lightly.

The Floating Temple had noticeably shifted when the immense purple...giant of a thing had hit; the intruder alert had sounded a moment later. When probing for the pilot of the machine, he realized that he felt...something from it, and that something _wasn't_ the pilot.

Not even Lord Green Neipier's A.U.G.E. had so strong a presence.

It was almost frightening.

Taking a deep breath, Amaterasu mentally shook his head. '_You're the "Emperor of Light", baka; you can stress out later!_'

Walking into the great hall of the Mirage Palace, the tall albino was slightly irked to find Lachesis already there. '_I know I look like a woman,'_ he thought, thinking of his ankle-length silver river of hair and slender proportions,'_but how is Laki-chan always able to get dressed faster than I can?'_

"Sopp-sama!"

Amaterasu smiled lightly. While she didn't do so out in public, she would always privately address him by his alter ego, Ladios Sopp.

Ignoring all decorum, Lachesis all but threw herself into Amaterasu's arms.

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Shinji couldn't help but gawk at the sight before him, his jaw slack like a loose fan belt. The graceful lines of a gothic cathedral hall rose before him, five times the height of any cathedral on Earth.

The reluctant pilot rubbed his arm self-consciously as their little groups' footsteps reverberated off the immense walls. For its near-incomprehensible volume, NERV Headquarters was quite claustrophobic with its metal and plastic walls and lack of lighting. This place, in contrast was so wide open, Shinji had thought they were in someplace like the south of France on several occasions.

Not for the first time, Shinji wondered if this was indeed Heaven.

"I'm afraid not, child. Such things would depend upon you as much as everyone here."

The man was tall and slender, with what looked like a hyacinth blossom him his hair, if he _was_ indeed a man. A long river of platinum hair reached down to the ankles, and piercing red eyes to stare deep into the soul…

'…_Rei?'_

Shinji's escorts bowed low to the figure in front of them. The figure nodded in acknowledgment before turning to him. "You seem very young to be a Knight, child."

A part of Shinji's mind was confused. Knight? He was no knight; he barely qualified as a pilot, as Asuka was always so eager to tell him. Another part of him was scared stiff; how would the person in front of him react when he told him he wasn't a knight or anything resembling a soldier? Would he be disappointed? Insulted? Angry?

Eventually, Shinji decided that the truth was probably the best option. "N-no. No, sir." Shinji hung his head. "I'm not a knight."

"Not a Knight? Then what _are_ you, child?"

"I'm just a child. The 3rd Child chosen to pilot Evangelion."

The albino seemed to think for a moment.

"You were reluctant to be chosen, yes?"

Shinji nodded dumbly. Was he really that easy to read?

The albino nodded in understanding. "A warrior always question one's orders, regardless of code." He then tilted his head in thought. "Evangelion? It that what that creature is called?"

The shy pilot blinked in confusion. Creature? True, Dr. Akagi had introduced it as _Artificial Humanoid_ Evangelion, but he hadn't thought she had meant it literally.

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She understood her Master's concern. What if the newcomer turned out to be hostile? She well knew that things weren't always as they appeared.

"_Stay out of sight, Laki-chan. I don't want you getting hurt if things get ugly."_ It was touching, that he cared so much that he would put himself in the line of fire to protect her.

That didn't mean she had to like it.

While she was perfectly aware that there were more than a few quite dangerous people out there that looked completely helpless (that Zoom Wonter character gave her the _creeps_), the child under escort looked and _felt_ more nervous and afraid than dangerous.

Besides, she was as physically capable as any Headdliner.

Taking a breath, Lachesis emerged from her hiding place behind an immense crimson tapestry. Apparently, the boy hadn't expected her appearance; as focused as he was on her Master, the child nearly jumped when she first caught his eye.

Amaterasu seemed to have noticed the boy's flinch, as he turned to greet her. "Oh, Laki-chan." He patted her on the shoulder, a light smile on his face. "I had planned on introducing the two of you later, but I suppose now is a good a time as any." Amaterasu sent her a mild glare; Lachesis simply grinned cheekily back at him. "This," said the Emperor, "is my wife and partner, Gibih Lachesis Fanatic B Amaterasu Guiress." He grinned as Lachesis blushed at the use of her full name. "Or you can call her Lachesis, if the first one is too much of a mouthful."

The boy bowed deeply. "A pleasure to meet you. My name is Ikari Shinji."

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**Tokyo-3, Geofront, NERV-01 Hospital**

Rei was the first to awaken.

Whiteness gradually gave way to blurry comprehension; touch gradually filtered back, while her hearing was still a bit fuzzy. Even so, she eventually found the call-button for the nurse.

Less than thirty seconds later, a nurse came in with a tray of tofu and a glass of water, both of which were consumed in short order.

"Colonel Katsuragi," said Rei, acknowledging the woman who entered the wardroom after the nurse. The violet-haired 2IC of NERV-Tokyo had her right arm in a sling, courtesy of a head-sized piece piece of armored ceiling.

"Hey, Rei. How are you feeling?"

The blue-haired girl did her best to rise up off of her pillows to sit up straight. Unfortunately for her, her sense of balance had yet to return fully.

"Whoa, Rei; take it easy," said Misato as she helped steady the dizzy Pilot. "You took a pretty bad knock on the head, plus you've been out for most of the week; I wouldn't try standing on your own quite yet."

Finally getting the room to stop spinning, Rei lay back onto her pillows. "Where is Ikari? What happened?"

"Tell me and we'll both know."

"And I suppose baby makes three."

Both Rei and Misato turned to the source of the barb as the newly-awake Asuka Langely Soryu made her bid for verticality. The results were rather predictable at this point.

"Damnit, Baka. Just once, could you _not_ make an EVA go berserk?" Clutching her head, Asuka tried in vain to halt the polka the room around her had decided to dance.

"Perhaps you should lay down, Soryu. Your balance should return in time."

Flipping Rei the finger, Asuka tried to sit up again, groaning as her head swam. This time, she was able to stay upright.

"So, any news about everyone else Misato?" asked Asuka as she gingerly shifted so her legs would hang off of the bed.

"Other than some bumps and bruises, the Bridge crew is generally okay." Misato tried to scratch at plaster, wincing as she jarred the healing arm. "Ritsuko was the worst off next to me; she bounced off a console. Concussion." Sighing, Misato dragged a chair over in between the Pilots' beds. "Makoto was able to pull surveillance videos and the interface data from the test. When you two are well enough, we'll go up to the Bridge and review it with everyone else, okay?"

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**Bridge, Central Dogma**

"That's an...interesting expression on your face, Colonel Katsuragi," said Commander Fuyutsuki as Misato arrived at the Bridge.

"When _you_ take marching orders from two teenagers in wheelchairs, go and see what face _you_ make, Sir."

Breach in conduct notwithstanding, Fuyutsuki let it slide. Katsuragi had yet to go home even a week after that disastrous sync test; both their best Pilot and machine were gone, the remaining active Pilots had been injured enough to require five days under medical supervision, and both EVAs 02 and 08 were heavily damaged.

Unbeknownst to the good colonel, Fuyuksuki was having his own problems. With the 'Angel' attacks officially over and SEELE exposed, humanity had once again become a collection of squabbling powers.

The European Union, thanks to Germany's influence, was _somewhat_ sympathetic to NERV's mission; they probably wouldn't declare open war on them, at any rate.

China had officially broken off relations with NERV months ago; with the failure of the Third Impact, the People's Republic once again reared its isolationist head after nearly twenty years of reluctant cooperation.

Both the U.S. and Russia were understandably suspicious once SEELE's true scenario had come to light; but hoarding Evangelion technology, components, and weapon systems was starting to wear on a frustrated UN Security Council.

On top of it all, the General Assembly was in an uproar over what had happened during the aforementioned sync test.

Thirty-two minutes in to the exercise, Pilot Ikari's sync ratio had inexplicably begun to increase at an alarming rate, going from 82.77 to 391.68 in under a minute.

Of course, that was the last bit of telemetry they had received from the plug before Unit-01's AT Field came up and the EVA's S2 Engine activated. The AT Field severed all physical and remote contact with the Evangelion, blasting both 02 and 08 through the cage walls, before it began to turn in upon itself.

Like the 12th Angel, an expanding black sphere consumed the EVA and everything around it; unlike the 12th Angel, the sphere also began to consume the air as well!

The black sphere continued to expand, the wind shrieking as it steadily picked up speed as it rushed to fill the void; anything not bolted down or otherwise secured was swept away into the erstwhile black hole.

Five minutes of abstract terror; five minutes of divine hate, tearing apart Earth's Fortress at the seams.

Five minutes, and Unit-01 was gone.

"So what _did_ the Pilots say to you, Colonel?", asked Fuyutsuki, honestly curious.

Misato grimaced. "They said to run the tapes in the tactical theater; they want to see this, injured or not."

Fuyutsuki looked thoughtful for a moment; glancing at the immense, perfectly spherical void that had once been Cage 6, the only thing he could get out was a distracted "Oh, dear..."

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Author's Notes

Well, that's the first chapter of 'Knights of Evangelion'. A tad short, perhaps, but it seemed best to simply end it before I could write myself into a corner.

To Mister James Ray Edwards; I honestly don't plan on having the AKD lay the smackdown on angels. For one thing, I think humanity will be enough trouble as it is. Adding to that, Shinji is going to remain the timid, housebroken and all-around nice guy for the foreseeable future. Even after the aborted Third Impact, Shinji is still having considerable trouble with not only his self-esteem, but he is also on the cusp of an existential crisis. Add in the fact that Shinji is now in completely unfamiliar circumstances, he'll be in a worse mental state than Clotho. Even with the world around him turned on its ear however, Shinji will do what what he arguably does best; to defend everyone around him and to be even marginally useful, regardless of public and personal cost.

Rest assured, he _will_ be making the acquaintance of all Three Fates, Voards Viewlard, Sir Roados Dragoon and Est, even the good Dr. Ballanche, among others. Not to mention a certain hot-blooded AKD princess (wink).

As for the EVAs themselves, I have something of an idea; the original Machine Messiahs relied on a direct link to their Headdliners, correct? I think that the Machine Messiahs are somewhat successful attempts at reverse-engineering EVA technology. But then again, that's just my own thoughts. I might try starting a forum eventually, so I can have some more direct creative feedback while I'm actually in the process of writing.

Any way you look at it, Shinji Ikari _will_ be making waves in the Joker Galaxy.

Until next time, this is the NightRanger, signing off!


End file.
